Hollywood Monster

For the Birmingham-based Hollywood Monster life is imitating art. Continued investment in the latest digital printing and finishing equipment plus a raft of new high profile contracts has transformed this wide-format signage and graphics service provider into a beast of a company. Last month for example, it was responsible for producing the UK’s largest ever digitally printed banner. Measuring a staggering 350m x 14m, the megalith banner was installed at Westfield Stratford City, the £1.45bn retail cathedral – Europe’s largest urban shopping mall – situated opposite the new Olympic stadium.
Simon McKenzie, sales director at Hollywood Monster, said: “It’s a huge coup for us because Westfield Stratford is the retail development of the moment – it’s part of the UK’s most ambitious regeneration project in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games and of course, it’s one that we’re really excited to be involved in.”
In addition to the record-breaking banner, the company also produced a further 85 billboards for the site, 40 of which were vinyl glass wraps and the rest, fabric hoardings. Epic.
Hollywood Monster has a proven track record of working with Westfield. Earlier this year it was responsible for creating and producing the circus-ring themed set for the UK premiere of Water for Elephants that took place at Westfield London. Starring Robert Pattinson and Reece Witherspoon, the set included a 27m broadcast wall and coverings for the circular stage plus podiums for the stars to greet the public.
“The calibre of contracts we’re awarded from Westfield is very high – there’s lots of scope for creativity and flair, something our team prides itself on,” says Tim Andrews, managing director, Hollywood Monster.
Hollywood Monster was established in August 2009 with the coming together of sister companies Hollywood Signs and Monster Digital. Two years later, the company has increased turnover to £6m after winning major contracts with commercial and residential property developers, Premier League football clubs, major retailers, shopping centres, theatrical events, exhibitions and others.
The success in securing new contracts has led to a recruitment drive to increase the workforce by 25% at the company’s modern 2,788m2 (30,000sq.ft) headquarters in Tyseley, situated just outside Birmingham.
A major factor in Hollywood Monster’s ability to deliver some of the country’s largest and most creative signage solutions for sports stadiums, rock concerts, festivals, shopping malls and property developers for example, is its continuous investment in latest printing and finishing technology. In fact, from the date of the merger the company has invested just over £2m in kit ensuring upward growth in both trade services and direct-to-client business.
For the past four years the company has worked very closely with CMYUK, UK distributor for EFI Vutek kit. “There is no doubt,” says Andrews, “our investment in the superb EFI Vutek GS and QS printers has resulted in us winning significant direct business particularly in the retail sector. CMYUK has been a great partner to us not only advising and providing us with the right equipment to help us evolve and grow our business, but also helping us with really important issues such as workflow and colour profiling – all the vital elements that ensure we can offer the highest quality output and service to our clients.”
Hollywood Monster has an impressive plant list enabling it to offer its clients a true hardcore end-to-end service that only a few can offer. In 2009, it invested in a six-colour, 1080dpi, 3.2m wide Vutek QSS3200 UV hybrid printer providing the company with the ammunition to diversify into new areas.
“We bought the EFI Vutek QS from CMYUK because financially and technically it offered the best value, and had a proven track record in service delivery and support. It also gave us improved productivity and colour intensity,” says Andrews.
Earlier this year the company invested in an EFI Vutek GS3200. Again another hybrid machine, the GS3200 prints up to 3.2m wide and can print up to 1000dpi for superior graphics. However, what this machine has bought to the party is the ability for Hollywood Monster to print white, and with the addition of a Zund contour cutter, these two pieces of machinery have provided the company with a perfect pincer assault on the POS market.
“Having the capability to print white is great for us,” says Andrews. “We can now offer clients the option of printing high quality graphics to non-traditional substrates such as acrylics and glass as well as allowing us to print onto pre-colour coated substrates, further extending our offering.
“The purchase of the Zund cutter to work with the GS was something we really needed to do as clients in POS today, require high material yields profile cut to shape and we have to be able to do this fast, effectively and efficiently.”
Another recent investment this year was a 5m-wide industrial printer plus a vast Fiab High Frequency Welder with a 16m bed. “These two pieces of equipment go hand in hand,” says Andrews. “Without these, we could not have contemplated outputting the massive banner for Westfield.”
Hollywood Monster also offers both metal and plastic fabrication for the production of both flat-cut and built-up shapes as well as light boxes providing the company’s existing markets with an ongoing supply of new products.
“We’ve worked hard to diversify and break into new market sectors. All that effort and investment is now beginning to pay dividends,” says Andrews. “We pride ourselves on excellent customer service and high quality products and continuously strive to improve the business through means of investment in new machinery and staff development and training. This in turn allows us to diversify into new markets as well as maintain and enhance our competitive edge.
“As the business grows, so do our people and where possible we look to support our local community as well as younger generations who wish to pursue a career in a similar industry and therefore offer work experience and apprenticeships. Many of the staff we still employ started out with us in this way.
“Thanks to our continuous investment in our equipment and staff we are in a strong position to manage and implement projects of all sizes. More and more customers are recognizing and appreciating the quality of our work and Hollywood Monster has gained a great reputation for delivering projects on budget and on time,” Andrews concludes.

The largest banner display in the UK
Producing the largest banner ever created in the UK was a monster of a job but one that Hollywood Monster handled with great aplomb.
The giant banner featuring a montage of retail related imagery was printed onto 400g-mesh fabric produced in 5 x 15m tiles. In all, 90 of these tiles were produced and were welded together on the Fiab High Frequency welder.
Hollywood Monster built a structurally approved, purpose-built steel frame onto which the huge banner was attached using specialist fixings. The banner was installed with the help of eight abseilers who installed it, one tile at a time.

www.hollywoodmonster.co.uk